1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to audio companding systems and, more specifically, to an apparatus for digitally implementing the compression and expansion functions in a BTSC decoder and encoder.
2. Description of the Prior Art
BTSC-compatible encoders and decoders are used to encode and decode stereo audio signals into NTSC television compatible audio signals. Existing systems typically use an analog approach. The analog approach is environmentally sensitive and, in the case of the encoder, requires extra circuitry to be compatible with digital television systems.
Existing digital BTSC encoder and decoder implementations require complex circuitry to facilitate determination of BTSC variable spectral preemphasis and deemphasis filter coefficients. The encoder implements the variable spectral preemphasis function. The decoder implements the variable spectral deemphasis function. In the case of the encoder, a feedback function is utilized to calculate the coefficients. In the case of the decoder, a feedforward function is utilized to calculate the coefficients. The transfer function of the decoder variable de-emphasis filter is simply the inverse of the encoder preemphasis filter. The filter coefficients are calculated in the same manner for both the encoder and decoder. Such circuitry is made complex because the feedback (feedforward) functions used to calculate the coefficients tend to exhibit a sharp bend, thereby causing the function to behave in a nonlinear fashion. Such non-linearity reduces the precision of interpolated coefficients. Therefore, there is a need for a circuit that employs a nearly linear aspect of the BTSC feedback (feedforward) function to facilitate more precise interpolation of BTSC filter coefficients.